Aizen's Haunting
by Silly Orihime
Summary: Seventeen months after the Arrancar Arc, Orihime is shocked to see sightings of the man that forced her to Las Noches. All her friends try to convince her she's only seeing things. There's no way Aizen could escape from Muken unnoticed... Right?
1. Twenty Thousand Years

**Aizen's Haunting**

** Chapter 1: Twenty Thousand Years**

"_It's been seventeen months... Kurosaki kun defeated Aizen... Soul Society and Karakura Town are safe. But why do I have the feeling the worse has yet to come?"_

XXX

Waking up for another day of school, Orihime turned off her alarm clock and made her way to the bathroom. She stared at herself in the mirror, realizing how much she has changed in a year. Her hair had more texture, her face wasn't as cute as it was when she was younger. It was becoming womanly, which wasn't the way she acted. No, Orihime Inoue was the same kindhearted and ditzy girl her friends came to love. A child trapped in a body of a beautiful curvy woman... With large breasts.

Orihime lifted her chest, flinching a bit in pain. "Ouch. Looks like I slept on them wrong again."

It was the same old routine. Orihime hopped in the shower for seven minutes, got dressed in her school uniform, dried her hair out, and snapped her two blue snowflake hair clips on the inside of her jacket's pocket. She was ready to begin and finish another peaceful day.

"It's another sunny day brother." She looked over at deceased brother's picture and smiled. "I hope it stays this way."

Locking her apartment door behind her, Orihime was greeted by her best friend down the street from the school.

"Yo! Orihime!" Tatsuki waved.

"Arisawa san!" She grinned, rushing over to her friend only to trip and fall over a crack in the sidewalk.

"Be careful!" Tatsuki groaned. "You need to watch where you step!"

"I'm okay!" Orihime quickly sprung back up and followed her raven haired friend to the school. "It's beautiful out, isn't it?"

"Summer break is just a week away." Tatsuki sighed in relief. "It's a good thing too. I need to focus on my job at the dojo. Do you have any plans for Summer vacation?"

Orihime shook her head, joining Arisawa inside the school building. "I want to stuff my face with super tasty food! Does that count as a plan?"

"Not really..." A sweat drop rolled off the tomboy's head. "I'm surprised you're not fat from all the junk food you always inhale."

"It's like what Chizuru said, it all goes to my boobs." Orihime giggled.

Looking at the long windows in the hallway of the school, Orihime could see her and Tatsuki's reflection walking to class.

"Senior year is just about over." Orihime's friend realized. "I'm going to miss it here. Have you applied to any colleges?"

The orange haired schoolgirl shook her head, watching her friend with long spiky hair guide her to class. "I need a break from school. This year has be physically and emotionally exhausting for me."

Tatsuki laughed. "You and be both!"

Orihime looked back over to see another reflection in the window. It wasn't a student, it was a grown man with half opened piercing brown eyes. Orihime knew who it was and froze up.

"Inoue."Mouthed the man dressed in Arrancar clothes.

"Aizen!" She gasped, stopping in her steps suddenly.

"What are you freaking out over Orihime?"

The ditzy girl looked around the hallway to see that they were alone. "I thought I saw..."

Tatsuki checked out the school hall as well and laughed. "You must be seeing things. There's no one here besides us."

_"She's right. There's no one here but us..." _Inoue was puzzled.

"Come on before the bell rings."

"Uh, right!" Orihime caught up to Tatsuki and made it into class. Perhaps Arisawa was right. Ever since she came home from the Soul Society and Aizen war, she hasn't had one decent rest. Maybe she was seeing things...

XXX

Sitting down in her seat, Orihime looked over at Ichigo. She wondered if she should tell him what she saw?

_"No... I don't want to worry Kurosaki kun over nothing." _She closed her eyes. _"He's already going through enough without his shinigami powers."_

She bit her lip. _"Aizen is locked up for twenty thousand years for his crimes. Soul Society would have reported to us if he tried to escape."_

Orihime tighten her grip on her pencil.

"Inoue, is something wrong?"

Snapping out of her thoughts, the schoolgirl with long auburn hair looked over at Ichigo.

"Yeah." She nodded. "Just thinking to myself."

"Kurosaki and Inoue! There will be no talking during class hours!"

"Geez, what an ass." Ichigo whispered, leaning back in his seat.

She softly giggled at her close friend's remark. Worrying over some figment of her imagination wasn't important at the moment. She needed to make sure Ichigo wouldn't get in trouble with the teacher.

XXX

After school, Orihime met up with Ichigo, Uryu, and Sado in the courtyard.

"Inoue, the guys and I are heading into town to grab a bite. Want to join us? We'll pay."

Her stomach growled. As much as she wanted to go out to eat, she needed her rest. Plus, she had a ton of homework to do.

"I would love to Kurosaki kun," she frowned, "but I need to do our homework assignments and I'm probably going to get some rest after that."

"Okay." He shrugged, not thinking much about her rejection. "See you tomorrow then."

"Bye." She waved at her guys friends before frowning when they were out of sight. "Wait, did I just reject free food? What did I do?!"

Freaking out, Orihime calmed down when she looked up at the school building. Her silliness turned into seriousness when she studied the glass windows.

"I need to stop worrying about what I saw." She started to walk home. "Aizen is behind bars. He's no longer a threat."

Even with him locked away for the rest of her life in the Soul Society, there was no doubt she still feared him. Besides Kurosaki kun, she had never seen someone with so much raw power before in her life. He could kill any mortal without breaking a sweat. Now that her beloved friend lost his powers to protect Karakura Town, everything seemed to be back to the way it was before Ichigo met Rukia.

_"Kurosaki kun gave up his power to protect us." _She told herself from about a block away from her house. _"He's a hero. It is because of him we have peaceful lives again. But how come I'm not at peace?"_

Arriving into her apartment, she dropped her school bag onto her couch.

_"Am I not at peace because I'm no longer on the battlefield?" _She disagreed with her own question. _"No, that's not it. I can't settle down because I'm scared Aizen will come back and destroy the peace Kurosaki kun worked so hard to bring back."_

The beautiful cloudless sky suddenly turned as gray as her eyes. Rain poured down with rumbling thunderstorms reminding Orihime her friends were probably walking around downtown without her.

"It looks like I made the right choice of coming home. I hope Kurosaki kun and the others aren't out in the rain," she sighed sadly, "so much for a beautiful day. Huh brother?"

Sitting down at her table, she dumped out all her school stuff onto the table and worked on her take home assignments. By the time she was done, it was pitch black out. She knew summer time brought thunderstorms to Karakura Town, but it wasn't that late out. It wasn't suppose to be dark out yet.

"I'm off to bed." Orihime stretched out her arms and got off of the chair. "Goodnight brother!"

Climbing into bed with a tasty chocolate frosted covered doughnut she got from work, the gray eyed schoolgirl took a big bite out of before relaxing.

_"I need sleep." _She tossed and turned in bed. _"I haven't slept right since I went to Las Noches..."_

Her eyes slightly fluttered, looking down the center of her bed to see her dresser. Her eyes closed for a few seconds and reopened to see that someone in white was standing in front of her dresser.

"Did you miss me Inoue Orihime?" The icy cold voice that haunted her hummed .

She quickly shot up in her bed, staring at what she thought was a figment of her imagination. With a bright flash from a lighting bolt, her sight was blinded for a mere second. When she was able to see again, he was gone.

Not wasting anytime, she tossed on her school uniform and made sure her hair clips were still attached to her shirt before heading outside in the rain. She wasn't seeing illusions. He was at Karakura High school. Aizen was in her room. He talked to her. She saw him in plain sight. He was real and he was back.

_"I need to tell Sado and Uryu." _Running outside, Orihime started to freak out again. This time, it wasn't over free food. _"I need to tell them."_

When she founded herself downtown, Inoue looked around all the food courts and restaurants and saw that her group of friends were no where to be seen. Biting on the bottom of her lip, she wondered who's place was closest to her.

"_Kurosaki kun's place is nearby... No. I don't want him to know." _She spun herself around and made her way to Ishida's residence. _"I can't get him into harm's way."_

Passing several houses in the falling rain, she finally arrived at her Quincy friend's house. She knocked three times on the door before someone opened it.

"Inoue, what are you doing out here so late?" Uryu studied her. "You're soaking wet. Come inside before you catch a cold."

Going inside of the house, Orihime collapsed to her knees trying to catch her breath. She has run this much since her P.E. group were forced to run a full two miles.

"Inoue!" Her friend with glasses noticed something was wrong. Orihime never runs. "What's wrong?!"

"Aizen..." She panted from the ground. "I have been seeing him... Uryu, I have been seeing Aizen."

Opening a closet door, Ishida grabbed a cotton blanket and wrapped Orihime around it. "Come sit on the couch."

Orihime nodded and followed his order and rested herself on the couch, still trying to get her heartbeat back down.

"Inoue, we were all there when Ichigo brought down Aizen." He informed her. "Kisuke Urahara used a seal from his kido to trap Aizen. Some judges later sentenced Aizen to twenty thousands years in Muken, the most well watched prison in all of Soul Society."

"I know..." She frowned. "But I have been seeing him everywhere I go."

"Are you sure you have truly been seeing him?"

Orihime looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

"Keep this a secret from the guys," Uryu joined her on the couch, "but ever since our battle with him, I have been having weird dreams. I also have been seeing things that aren't really there."

"But I saw him as plain as day when I was trying to sleep." She squeezed her eyes close. "I know his voice from anywhere. He was talking to me..."

"I'm sure that was a nightmare." He pushed up his glasses. "In my dreams, he's chasing me around with a giant butterfly net. Freaking, huh?"

Growing frustrated, Inoue knew he wasn't taking her seriously. "Uryu, do you have your cellphone on you?"

"Sure." He dug into his back pocket and handed her his phone. "Is there anything else you need?"

"Some chicken noddle soup sounds good." She muttered. "Maybe with some hot buns with it. And some sea salt crackers."

The Quincy laughed. "Sure, I'll go get some food ready for you."

When Uryu was out of the room, Orihime dialed Sado's phone number.

"Hey Uryu."

"Sado, it's me, Orihime." The redhead corrected him.

"Orihime? What are you doing on Uryu's phone? Is everything okay?"

Orihime looked around and brought her voice down to a whisper, "Uryu doesn't believe me, but I have been seeing Aizen around. I even saw him in my room!"

"That's not good." It seemed Sado was listening unlike her other friend. "Where have you been seeing him at?"

"Let's see." She rubbed her chin. "I saw him in a window at school while spacing off. I also caught him in my room when I was halfway from falling asleep."

There was a long pause in the conversation before Sado continued. "Orihime, you told me you haven't been sleeping right ever since the Las Noches incident."

Her eyes sadden. She knew where it was going. "I know..."

"With a lack of decent sleep, people tend to see things that aren't really there. I'm sure that is what's happening to you."

"But Sado..."

"Forgive me Orihime, we have to continue this talk tomorrow. I have to head to work. I will see you at school tomorrow."

"Oh... Bye."

He hung up.

_"They don't believe me." _She wanted to cry. _"My friends think I'm losing it."_

Maybe she was losing it. Was the past still haunting her? Moments later, Uryu walked over to Orihime with a plate of 'get well' food that had everything she ordered on it.

"Here you go." He placed the plate on her legs.

_ "_Thanks..."She lost her appetite.

"Inoue, I have a question for you," his glasses shimmered, "you spent quite some time over at Las Noches. Did Aizen try any funny business with you?"

She shook her head, feeling a little embarrassed he would ask that.

"Hmm..." He went into deep thought. "Did he scare you while you were there?"

"He was the only person that had enough power to defeat Kurosaki kun." She didn't like talking about Aizen, but it was time to get her fear off her chest. "He acted so powerful around the Espada and everyday I spent there, I felt like it could had been my last. Yes... He did scare me... I'm still scared of him."

"You are seeing him because you are afraid of him." Uryu came to an conclusion. "Fear is powerful, and he has planted a seed of fear into your head. Orihime, I promise you that you are safe. We won't have to deal with Aizen anymore in this lifetime."

"You're right." She placed her food onto the couch. "It was foolish of me thinking he was following me around. Aizen is locked up. He is behind bars. We won't have to deal with him anymore."

"It looks like the rain has cleared up," Ishida gazed outside, "but it's still dark out. Would you like to stay over?"

"No, I should be heading home." Orihime got off of the couch and smiled. "Thank you for the help."

"No problem." He chuckled, opening the door for her. "Are you sure you're okay enough to walk home by yourself?"

"Yep! I'm starting to feel like myself!" She winked. "See you tomorrow Uryu!"

"Goodnight. And get some rest!"

Looking up at the starry night after leaving Ishida's house, tears rolled down her face.

_"I have to see it for myself." _She whispered. _"I need to see that Aizen is in the prison. I have to go to the Soul Society."_

She knew only one person that had access to the Soul Society. Wobbling into a new direction, Orihime had one place in mind. She had to go to the Urahara Shop.

XXX

**Author's note**: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Do you think Orihime is seeing things? Or are her friends wrong? Comment what you think!


	2. Like A Fly In A Spider Web

**Aizen's Haunting**

** Chapter 2: Like A Fly In A Spider Web**

_"I know what I saw. There are only two possibilities. One: My friends are right. I am seeing things that aren't really there. Or two: What I am seeing is real... There is only one way to figure out who is right..."_

XXX

"Huh?" Sensing a presence outside his shop, a lanky tall man wearing a straw hat opened his door before his visitor could knock on it. "Orihime Inoue? What are you doing here at this time of night?"

"I have a favor to ask you Kisuke." She bowed. "I need you to open a portal to the Soul Society for me."

He scratched his dirty blonde hair. "Opening the Senkaimon takes a few hours. Longer if I have to do it myself. Why do you need to go to the world of the dead?"

Inoue's stormy gray eyes half closed. "I need to clear my consciousness."

"Are you here by yourself?" He looked around. "Clearing your consciousness isn't a very good excuse for me to go through all the trouble of opening up the portal for one person. How about you tell me some details?"

"You won't believe me." She frowned. "Uryu and Sado didn't believe me when I told them."

"Try me." He grinned.

She sighed, readying herself to explain what she has been seeing once again. "I have been seeing Aizen Sosuke lately. I need to know if what I am seeing are visions or not."

Kisuke kidding around stopped.

"Please Urahara." She looked up from her bow. "I need to find out."

"I see why you came here alone." He grabbed her hand and led her inside. "Does Ichigo know anything about this?"

"I didn't want Kurosaki kun to get worried. Without his shinigami powers, he could get hurt. I don't want him to get hurt... Plus, I'm not even sure if what I have seen is real."

"You did the right thing." He agreed with her. "But real or not, this is Aizen we're talking about. The only way to be sure is to get you into Soul Society and to confirm he is still imprisoned in Muken. I better go prepare to open the portal."

Before heading into his training room he kept hidden from the public, he briefly looked around in his cluttered shop.

"Make yourself at home." Kisuke smiled. "Forgive me that it's a mess. We just got a new shipment of shinigami supplies today and I haven't unpacked all of them yet. I will come back when the Senkaimon is ready."

Orihime nodded, watching him go into another room. It was relieving to know that someone was going to help her out, but at the same time, she was praying that her sightings of Aizen weren't real. What would Soul Society do if they discovered that Aizen somehow escaped? How would her friends cope with the shocking discovery? What worried Orihime most of all was would Aizen go after Ichigo and finish off what they started? Thinking of the questions weren't helping her at all, but she had to prepare herself for 'what ifs'. Inoue would either come back to Karakura Town with good or bad news. Several hours had gone by before Urahara returned to the front of the shop.

"It took longer than expected," he rubbed the back of his neck, "I didn't want to wake the others. Follow me."

Leading her to a familiar room, past memories hit Inoue like a sack of bricks. She was in the room she trained with her friends to ready themselves for their journey into the Soul Society and later after that, the dangers of Aizen and his men. In the center of the desert oasis that was locked away in a single room was the huge portal that led to the world of the dead.

"I have to stay here and keep the Senkaimon opened." He told her. "I can have one of my friends go with you if you want."

Orihime denied his offer.

"I can only keep it opened for so long," Kisuke said, sitting on top of the portal, "find and tell a friend in the Soul Society your story and they won't have any problems showing you the prison Aizen is staying at. After the trip to Muken, you have to hurry through Senkaimon. Don't mess around."

"I won't." She promised. "Thank you for everything."

"Let's both hope that Aizen is still imprisoned." He closed his eyes. "I'm not sure what we could do to bring him down again."

Nervously, Orihime took her first step into the gate of the portal.

"You remember how to get through?"

"Yes." She nodded, remembering her past experiences going through Senkaimon with her friends.

"Good luck Orihime."

Running inside, the darkness of the portal cloaked her body not even two feet into it.

"If Aizen is out and about," Urahara tilted his hat, "Kurosaki Ichigo cannot help us. Karakura Town and the Soul Society will be at risk once again."

XXX

_"I won't let Kurosaki kun's actions all been in vain." _Orihime thought as she continued running straight into the pitch darkness of the portal way to the Soul Society. _"He sacrificed so much for the safety of Karakura Town and the world of the dead. Kurosaki kun... I won't let everything you've done been for nothing!"_

Arriving at the end of the portal, Orihime made her first steps into Soul Society by herself. It still looked the same as it did in her memory. However, she realized there was a problem.

"Oh no..." A drop of sweat rolled down her head. "I should had thought this through. I have no idea where Muken is. And I'm not sure where I should look for help at..."

"Inoue, what are you doing here?"

The auburn haired girl spun around to see a girl much shorter talking to her. The child looking girl had the long strands on the bottom of her black hair chopped off and wore a standard black shinakusho. Happy to see a friend of hers, Orihime picked up the child size shinigami and hugged her.

"Rukia san! It's been so long since I last saw you!" Inoue laughed.

"Inoue, it's nice to see you too, but you're crushing me!" She gasped, trying to breathe.

"Oops! Sorry..." Orihime nervously chuckled, putting her friend back down.

"What are you doing here? Is Ichigo with you?"

"I'm here by myself." Inoue frowned. "I don't want to alarm you or anyone else here, but I have been sighting Aizen in Karakura Town. I'm not sure if they are real or not though."

"But Aizen is imprisoned." Rukia crossed her arms across her chest. "He's in Muken, a level eight prison cell that is constantly watched over. There's no way he could had escaped."

Orihime brought her hands to her heart. "I have to see for myself. I need to know he is locked away."

Rukia saw the concern on her friend's face and frowned. "Even if he did somehow manged to escape, he lost all his powers when the Hogyoku abandoned him. He's not a threat to anyone anymore."

"He still haunts me." Orihime confessed. "I know I shouldn't be scared of him, but I am. Seeing that he's locked away will give me the strength to get over my fear of him. Rukia, could you take me to Muken?"

She sighed. "It looks like I don't have much of a choice."

"Thank you Rukia." Orihime smiled.

"You're going to see why no one has ever escaped from the Central Great Underground Prison before," Rukia led way, "Inoue, let's go."

"Right." She followed behind the female shinigami. In not too long, Orihime's fear of Aizen would either end or strengthen.

XXX

"We are here."

Orihime looked around. "Where is here?"

"The first division's barracks," Rukia explained, "the prison level Aizen is held at is underneath this building."

"Halt." Two guards walked up to them. "What is your business here?"

"I'll talk to them." Rukia sighed, taking the two men over to tell them everything Orihime told her.

_"It doesn't look much of a prison." _She noticed. _"It looks like a regular old house..."_

Orihime looked over at Rukia. She was still talking to the scary looking men.

_"They don't look pleased... I hope they let us in." _The redhead was doubting herself.

"Hey Inoue!" Rukia called. "They're going to let us go see him!"

"Really?" Orihime walked over to them.

"We owe Ichigo Kurosaki after he saved Soul Society from Aizen." They laughed. "The least we can do is show his human girlfriend what we have done to the criminal."

"Um... Kurosaki kun and I aren't dating." Orihime blushed. "We are just friends."

"No way." The second guard rubbed his chin. "How can a pretty thing like you be single?"

"That's none of our business!" The first guard punched his buddy in the gut.

"Geez..." Rukia rolled her violet eyes. "Are you two going to show us where he's at or do we have to find out for ourselves?"

"We'll guide the way." They answered. "And keep close. We normally don't let visitors in."

The two girls followed the guards inside. To Orihime's surprise, the inside looked as normal as the outside. There was a living room, kitchen, and beautiful Japanese decorations all throughout the house. But something wasn't right. Several feet in front of them was a thick glass that blocked them from going further in.

"This is level zero," the first guard said, "we keep no one up here. This is just for show."

After the second guard pulled down a lever, the floor all the way to the glass window started to go down like an elevator.

"We use this to exam the prisoners quickly." Guard number two noticed Orihime was shocked at the moving part of the room. "We are approaching level one."

Rukia and Orihime could see a room full of thugs tied up in a neat and orderly line. They stared at the window, making the nervous Inoue look away.

"Don't worry, this is mirror glass. We can see them, but they can't see us."

"It's alright Orihime." Rukia patted her shoulder.

Every level they passed, the stronger and meaner the criminals got. The number of them also decreased as the level got higher. By the time they got to the final floor, Orihime had knots in her stomach from all the death glares she received from the refugees. They weren't staring at her, but it felt like they knew exactly where she was on the other side of the mirror glass and that freaked her out.

"The eighth floor, the final floor."

"Muken." Rukia looked into the room. "It's so dark in there."

Orihime peeped through closed eyes to see that Rukia was right. It was pitch black.

"Here." The second guard flipped a switch. "This might help."

One by one, four long lights turned on in the eighth floor's room. In the center of the room, there was a man strapped down to a chair. He was gagged, blindfolded, and was fully covered in a tight black suit that was strapped to the chair.

"Is that..." Inoue took shaky steps toward the window.

"Sosuke Aizen." They nodded.

"Why is he the only one in there?" Kuchiki asked.

"He committed unforgivable crimes. Muken is the final stay to the most treasonous people in all of Soul Society. He should had been sentenced to death for what's he done, but since Aizen is immortal, we had to give him the next worse thing. "

Orihime pressed her hands against the glass.

"Twenty thousand years without seeing, moving, or being able to talk. I would hate to be that guy."

"How are you feeling?" Rukia joined Inoue's side.

"The weight of fear in my chest..." Orihime exhaled. "It's gone. Now that I know he's in there, I can sleep without worrying."

"Good." The guards nodded. "Because no one has ever escaped the Central Great Underground Prison and lived to tell the tale. We have twenty guards on every floor."

Guard number one pointed to the door in the center of Aizen's room.

"As you can tell, there is a door in the center of each room on every level. That is the only way in and out of the prison cells. And we have ten of the guards protecting that while the other ten are in the hallway of each level."

Even though he was blindfolded, Orihime felt uneasy looking at him. "Rukia, may we go now?"

"We're done here." The short shinigami said. "We can go back up now."

"If that's your wish." The second guard pulled the lever up.

Orihime's eyes glued onto Aizen before he was out of her sight. Her friends were right, Aizen was locked up for good. In time, she would be able to begin forgetting Las Noches, the Espada, and finally, Aizen. She was going to be able to have a life she always wanted, one that didn't have to circle around the past. Orihime softly smiled when they reached level zero, urging to get some sleep for school tomorrow .

XXX

"Was I right or was I right?"

Giggling at Rukia's gloating, Orihime noticed that the large gateway home was getting closer to them.

"It was fun seeing you again." The schoolgirl smiled. "And thank you for all that you have done for me."

"It was no biggie." Rukia replied with a toothy grin. "I guess you are heading home now. Right?"

"I have to. Urahara can only keep the portal open for so long."

"Ah." Rukia frowned, stopping in her steps.

"Rukia?" Orihime stopped as well.

"May I... May I get you to tell Ichigo something for me?

"Sure. What is it?"

"Tell Ichigo I said hi." Rukia softly blushed. "And tell him I miss him."

Coming to admire Rukia since the first day she met her, Orihime knew that she also had feelings for Ichigo. Strong, confident, and outgoing, Rukia was everything she wanted to be. Orihime brought her hands up and made two peace signs.

"I promise!" She giggled.

"Thanks." She pushed back her short raven hair. "I have to go run some errands for my brother. Do you need to be escorted to the portal?"

"It's not that far away, I shouldn't have no problem getting there on my own." Orihime waved. "I hope I get to see you again soon."

"Me too." Rukia smiled before disappearing into the wind.

_"Going home to my friends who will tell me 'I told you so!' Going home to my friends who will tell me 'I told you so!'" _Humming inside her head, Orihime was ready to go home and start having days of peace. Days that didn't involved thinking about Aizen.

"Inoue."

Freezing in her steps, Orihime looked over where the voice came from. A male around her age with spiky orange hair was standing in the shadow of a nearby building. Just like Rukia, he was wearing shinakusho clothing. His autumn brown eyes connected to her.

"Kurosaki kun?" She gasped, not knowing what to say. "What are you doing in your shinigami clothing?"

Looking disappointed, he hurried off into a direction opposite of the Senkaimon.

"Wait Kurosaki kun!" She chased after him. "I can explain!"

Chasing after Ichigo, Orihime didn't realize that she was getting further and further away from the portal leading to Karakura Town. All she wanted was a chance to explain to Ichigo why she came to Soul Society without him or Uryu and Sado. By the time he stopped running, he was standing in the middle of a thick forest with her several feet away from him.

"I'm sorry." She panted, resting her hands on her knees. "I should had told you I was afraid of Aizen. I shouldn't had came here by myself without telling you. Please say something Kurosaki kun..."

Ichigo disappeared into thin air very much like Rukia did.

"Kurosaki kun?"

An arm wrapped around her waist, forcing her to stand up straight and a hand slid up to her neck to make sure she wouldn't try to run off.

"Trapped like a fly in a spider web." A chilling smooth voice whispered into her ear. "So Orihime, you're afraid me?"

XXX

**Author's note: **It looks like Orihime gotten herself into trouble... Again. Leave comments please!


	3. A Rogue God

**Aizen's Haunting**

** Chapter 3: A Rogue God**

_"I knew it in my gut Aizen was out of prison. How did he escape? How did he tricked me into seeing Kurosaki kun? And why is he after me again?"_

XXX

"Aizen!" Orihime gasped out, still trapped in his grasp.

"It has been awhile, hasn't it?" His fingers slid lower down her neck. "You have grown since the last time I saw you. From your uniform, it looks like you are a senior at Karakura Town High School."

His freezing touch made her move around in his arms. "Am I making you uncomfortable?"

She nodded slowly. Orihime had no idea how strong he was, but if he was able to escape from the most guarded place in Soul Society, he should had enough skill to kill her. Even powerless, Aizen still knew how to overpower Orihime.

"Forgive me." After releasing her, he backed away several feet. "I just wanted to make sure you were the real thing. I only had my thoughts to amuse me while I was wondering around Hueco Mundo. Tell me, how long has it been?"

"Seventeen months..." She softly replied, fearing to turn around to face him.

Aizen slowly smiled. "How amusing. Are you here with Ichigo Kurosaki?"

She quickly shook her head. The fear she had for him was slowly creeping back.

"Good, my business is not with him." He grabbed her arm and spun her around, holding her close with a hand under her chin to face him. "Orihime, I would appreciate it if you look at me in the eyes while we talk."

She was finally able to get a good look at him for the first time. With his brown hair down to his waist, she knew he was in his Chrysalis stage. His white Arrancar uniform covered his body besides his neck and face.

"Don't fret," he smiled, "I might have the appearance of my powerful Chrysalis stage, but that's all it is. Appearance. Don't let it fool you, I won't cause you any harm."

She took a deep shallow before asking a question. "How come I can't sense your reiatsu?"

"Marvelous question." He grinned, letting her go. "I no longer have a spirit pressure. The Hogyoku took that away from me when it abandoned me."

That would explain why she didn't sense him at school or at home.

"In fact, I nearly lost everything when I battled against Kurosaki Ichigo." His half lidded eyes glistened. "I lost everything but my immortality."

"But you came to Karakura Town..." Orihime trailed off. "You were in my home."

"Amusing. I never had power over you physically. Inoue Orihime, your lack of sleep has caused you to see things that weren't there." He chuckled. "Your brain caused you to see me. It was only a matter of time before you arrived here seeking answers to your odd suspensions."

_Tatsuki checked out the school hall as well and laughed. "You must be seeing things. There's no one here besides us."_

_ "The Kurosaki kun I was chasing after wasn't real." _Orihime remembered the incident at Karakura Town High School and realized her sleepless nights had taken a toll on her. _"He was never here. I led myself into Aizen's hands."_

He held out his hand. "We have wasted enough time here. It's time to go."

"W-Where?" She stuttered, ashamed at the position she put herself into.

He parted his lips into a devilish smile. "To Hueco Mundo.Back to Las Noches."

XXX

"What is taking that girl so long? It's almost morning."

Suffering from extreme boredom, Urahara looked down to see that someone was entering the world of the living through the Senkaimon. It was Orihime Inoue. She returned.

"Hey! Sorry that I took longer than expected." Orihime waved at Kisuke. "I ran into Rukia and we ended up chatting for a long time!"

"I see." As soon as he left his post and jumped down next to the redhead, the portal disappeared. "How did it go?"

"I saw him." Orihime's starlight eyes flashed. "In the Muken. I guess what I was seeing here was nothing more than my imagination."

Kisuke was relieved. Karakura Town and the Soul Society was still safe. Everything was back to normal.

"The fear I had for him is no more." She half heartily smiled. "I am able to go back to my regular life without thinking of him."

"You won't have to see Aizen in this life ever again." The blonde smiled. "Ichigo and I made sure of that."

Inoue noticed that the sun was peaking over the horizon. "Oh my goodness! What time is it?"

"Almost seven."

She started to panic. "School is in half an hour! I have to get my school supplies, grab something to eat, and change into new school clothes before I'm late! Thank you for everything Urahara!"

"No problem." He waved. "Say hi to Ichigo for me!"

"I will!" Orihime hurried off. "Bye Kisuke!"

"She's an odd one." He chuckled, looking at the two large posts that held the portal together. "Ichigo certainly has his hands full with her and the others."

XXX

Orihime's eyes widen at the place she was forced back to with Aizen. The last thing she wanted was to return back to Las Noches with the one she had complete fear for.

"What a mess," Aizen chuckled, escorting Inoue inside the large castle, "I had no idea Ichigo and his allies caused so much damage to Las Noches."

_"I'm back." _She whimpered in her thoughts. _"I'm back in Las Noches. Why would he bring me back here? Kurosaki kun, Uryu, and Sado will notice I am gone. They will discover Aizen is gone as well and will come here to search for me. But he must know that already. What is he plotting?"_

"You may talk if you want." Aizen looked over his shoulder as he walked with her. "I will answer any questions you have for me."

_ "Would he tell me the truth?" _Orihime remembered the real reason she was dragged to Las Noches last time. _"He convinced everyone he kidnapped me for my Shun Shun Rikka. He even had me believeing his lie. Instead, he wanted to lure Kurosaki kun and the others to Hueco Mundo so that he wouldn't have to face Soul Society's full strength. No, I can't trust him."_

"How did you escape?" she added to her question. "How did you escape the Central Great Underground Prison?"

"I was never in Muken." He responded. "In fact, Urahara never sealed me with his kido. The thing they captured was nothing more than a soulless clone."

"A clone?" Orihime gasped.

Aizen nodded. "I replaced myself with the clone after Yoruichi's beastly attack against me. While they were focused on it coming up from the rumble, I managed to slip away. It wasn't shortly after that the real Hogyoku rejected my body and left. "

She continued collecting the information Aizen was giving her.

"It puzzled me discovering Ichigo Kurosaki was able to tap into his full power," he grinned, "I won't let that happen again."

Her eyes widen. "You plan on attacking Kurosaki kun?"

"All in due time." They entered the throne room. "Now that I know the full extent of his power, I will have to change my plans."

_"He doesn't know Kurosaki kun lost his power." _She realized. _"This is bad. Very bad. Kurosaki kun won't be able to defend himself... And that would mean he could..."_

Going a short distance away from her, Aizen sat down on his throne. "Orihime."

"Yes?" She managed to snap out of her thoughts in time to answer him.

"You have a new purpose in my plot." He flipped back his long hair. "Come here."

Obeying him, she walked over to a side of his throne of Las Noches.

"You have a more productive role this time." His chocolate eyes shimmered. "I need you to use your Soten Kisshun to bring back my shinigami powers. After I am fully restored to my previous self, I will search for the Hogyoku."

She grew hesitant. Inoue knew what he would do once he got his skills back. He would go after Ichigo and hurt him.

"I don't know if it works that way..."

"Nonsense." He stood up and made his way over to her. "I know all about your Shun Shun Rikka. The stronger your determination is, the stronger it gets. As long as you believe that Soten Kisshun will bring back my shinigami powers, it will do so."

He grabbed her hand and placed it where his heart should be, catching her off guard.

"You will do what I say." He smiled. "Right Orihime?"

"Yes sir..." She slowly nodded.

"And you won't fail to obey me." He leaned closer to her. "Because if you don't follow my orders, I will be forced to punish you myself. As you can tell, we are alone here."

Aizen was right, all the Espada were dead. They all died in battle, some even died by Sosuke's hands. She didn't want to end up like they did.

"Understood?"

"Yes sir." The auburn haired girl could feel his chilling cold breath on her skin.

"Good." He backed away from her. "In that case, you may begin."

_"Soten Kisshun..." _Orihime gritted her teeth together. _"I release."_

A yellowish dome surrounded him, beginning the slow healing process.

"So this is what it feels like. Interesting." Aizen started a new conversation. "You were blessed with an unique gift Orihime."

He noticed she was deep in thought. "What is it?"

"What if..." Inoue looked at him as she healed him. "What if Kurosaki kun discovers I'm gone and comes here before you can find the Hogyoku?"

"No one will know that you are here." Sosuke smirked. "Just like I did with myself, I created a clone of you as well."

"Huh?!" She stuttered, completely shocked with what he just said.

"It might not have the Shun Shun Rikka, but everything else matches up. Looks, personality, memories. I have even gone through the trouble of putting in an artificial spirit pressure into it that is an exact copy of yours."

Inoue trembled in her stance. There was a fake Orihime living her life in Karakura Town and no one would know that she was really in Las Noches.

"Like I said, you have an important role to fulfill. Once I get my powers back, I will have no use for you."

_"No use?" _She wanted to puke. _"Does he plan on killing me when I finish giving back his abilities as a soul reaper? I don't want to die. There's so many things I haven't done, things I haven't said. I haven't gotten the chance to confess my feelings to Kurosaki kun..."_

Filling her head with more frighting thoughts, the Soten Kisshun shattered. Aizen noticed the schoolgirl backing away from him in fear of what he would do to her.

"I-I'm so sorry!" She was flabbergasted. "That's never happened before!"

"Relax," he reached over to her and traced his fingers under her chin, stopping her in her tracks, "I see that your fear of me won't allow your healing to restore my soul reaper strength."

"I can try again." Inoue stuttered.

"No... It would be useless." He brought his hand back to rub his own chin, thinking deeply. "As long as you are afraid of me, your Soten Kisshun will have no effect on me."

She gulped, preparing herself for punishment.

"Very amusing." He laughed, confusing the young Inoue.

"You're not mad?" She quietly asked, still not understanding what was going through Aizen's head.

"No." He towered above her. "You have the right to fear me. Your friends, Soul Society, they're all afraid of me. If I want my plans to go into action, I need to show you that your fright of me is useless."

He frowned. "That will take some time. Perhaps longer than it should. But it will be worth it."

Aizen walked pass her and jumped down to the floor below the throne room.

"I advise you to get some sleep while I'm gone, but you may explore the castle if you desire to," he ordered, "I have some errands to attend to. I won't be gone for long."

"Yes sir..."

"You don't have to be so formal around me." He smiled at her. "Please, call me Aizen or Sosuke."

"Okay... Aizen." Saying his name out loud triggered a shiver down her spine.

"Farewell." He walked out of the room.

_"The only desire I have..." _She closed her eyes. _"Is keeping Kurosaki kun and the others safe."_

XXX

"Hey Ichigo, are you alright?"

Sitting down on a bench in the courtyard of Karakura Town High School, the bright orange haired teenager looked up at Sado and nodded.

"Yeah, just thinking to myself." Ichigo noticed two other of his friends weren't in sight. "Where's Uryu and Inoue?"

"Orihime went to her job at the bakery. Uryu is dealing with hollows."

Ever since he lost his shinigami abilities, the role of hero of Karakura Town was passed over to Ishida. It sucked feeling so useless, but Ichigo finally had the chance to have a 'normal' life with his crazy family. He should be happy. But why wasn't he?

"It's weird, isn't it?" Sado snapped him out of his thoughts. "Since Aizen is defeated, we no longer have to worry about Soul Society or the Arrancar. It's strange not fighting anymore."

Ichigo sighed. "You're telling me."

"Do you miss fighting?"

After a moment of silence, Kurosaki finally answered. "No. I can finally relax and be around a safe environment with my family and friends. As long as the people I care for are safe, I have no reason to fight... I have no reason to have shinigami powers..."

"You have a point." Sado nodded. "I better head home. See you Monday."

"Later." He waved, watching his friend leave.

_"Rukia hasn't tried to contact me since she left to Soul Society." _He thought. _"Looks like the world of the dead doesn't need me either..."_

Ichigo got off of the bench and looked up at the sky. It was time to face reality. He was no longer needed to protect anyone anymore. Both the worlds were out of harm's way.

XXX

**Author's note: **Looks like Orihime is losing it. How will she spend her time back at Las Noches? Leave comments please! Updating will slow down so that I can catch up on other stories I'm working on.


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